Americans United - Marriage, Reproductive Justice & Other Privacy Issueshttps://au.org/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues
Marriage, reproduction and other privacy issues are some of the intimate and personal matters affecting Americans. As much as possible, decisions about these issues should be left to the individual. Government must refrain from basing policy in these areas on any group's theology. Laws in this area should reflect secular rationales and, as much as possible, respect private choice and individual rights.
enGoldberg v. Goldberghttps://au.org/our-work/legal/lawsuits/goldberg-v-goldberg
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>In resolving a dispute in a child custody matter, a Texas judge ruled in March 1999 that a lesbian mother could not take her daughter to services at the Metropolitan Community Church, a gay/lesbian Christian congregation, because it is not a "mainline" church. On August 30, 1999, while the case was on appeal, AU and several other groups filed an <i>amicus</i> brief in the Texas Court of Appeals arguing that the holding violated the mother’s free exercise rights and impermissibly entangled the court in religious matters. However, in March 2000, the court of appeals upheld the lower court’s decision.</p></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-local-court field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/texas-state-court">Texas State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/texas-state-court">Texas State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/texas-state-court">Texas State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/texas-state-court">Texas State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/texas-state-court">Texas State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/texas-state-court">Texas State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/texas-state-court">Texas State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/texas-state-court">Texas State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/texas-state-court">Texas State Court</a></div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/discrimination-refusals-exemptions-free-exercise">Discrimination, Religious Refusals, Exemptions &amp; Free Exercise</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-aus-role field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">AU&#039;s Role:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/au-role/amicus">Amicus</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-involvement-begin field-type-date field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">AU&#039;s Involvement Began:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">August 1999</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-case-status field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Status:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/court-case-status/closed">Closed</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-recent-developments field-type-text-long field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Most Recent Developments:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><span class="field field-name-field-address field-type-addressfield field-label-above" ><span class="field-label">Address:&nbsp;</span><span class="field addressfield field-item" ><span class="addressfield-citystate">TX</span></span></span>Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:12:11 +0000Americans United5711 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/our-work/legal/lawsuits/goldberg-v-goldberg#commentsCatholic Charities of Sacramento v. Superior Courthttps://au.org/our-work/legal/lawsuits/catholic-charities-of-sacramento-v-superior-court
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>In 1999, California passed a statute obligating employers who provide prescription drug benefits as part of a health insurance plan to include benefits for prescription contraception. The statute provides an exemption for "religious employers," defined as those that have as their purpose the inculcation of religious values and primarily employ and serve persons who share their religious tenets. Catholic Charities ("CC") does not meet this definition because the vast majority of its employees and beneficiaries are not Catholic, but it claimed that it was nonetheless entitled to an exemption from the statute under the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the federal and state constitutions. In March 2002, AU filed an <i>amicus</i> brief with the California Supreme Court arguing that the statute is permissible because it does not intrude into religious autonomy in that it does not require government officials to decide religious questions; the statute should not be deemed to impose a "substantial burden" on the exercise of religion because CC can opt to pay a stipend for contraceptive coverage rather than purchasing the coverage itself and can still issue statements and disclaimers against the use of contraception, and because an employee’s decision to use certain insurance is not attributable to CC; and any burden on CC must be balanced against the burden that would otherwise be placed on innocent third party employees. On March 1, 2004, the Court rejected CC’s claims, finding that the statute does not violate the Establishment Clause because it does not call for government officials to decide religious questions and the exclusion for "religious employers" is a permissible accommodation of religion; the statute does not violate the federal Free Exercise Clause because it is neutral and generally applicable; and even if it does create a substantial burden (which the Court did not decide), it does not violate the state Free Exercise Clause, which calls for strict scrutiny even with respect to neutral laws, because it is narrowly tailored to address the compelling interest of eliminating gender discrimination. CC asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision, but the Court denied review in early October 2004.</p></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-local-court field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/discrimination-refusals-exemptions-free-exercise">Discrimination, Religious Refusals, Exemptions &amp; Free Exercise</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/official-prayer-religious-displays-ceremonial-religion">Official Prayer, Religious Displays &amp; Ceremonial Religion</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-involvement-begin field-type-date field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">AU&#039;s Involvement Began:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">March 2002</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-case-status field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Status:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/court-case-status/closed">Closed</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-recent-developments field-type-text-long field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Most Recent Developments:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><span class="field field-name-field-address field-type-addressfield field-label-above" ><span class="field-label">Address:&nbsp;</span><span class="field addressfield field-item" ><span class="addressfield-citystate">CA</span></span></span>Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:12:11 +0000Americans United5703 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/our-work/legal/lawsuits/catholic-charities-of-sacramento-v-superior-court#commentsStrauss v. Hortonhttps://au.org/our-work/legal/lawsuits/strauss-v-horton
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>In November 2008, a slim majority of California voters approved Proposition 8, which purports to add a single sentence to the California Constitution: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Various religious groups organized to place this initiative on the ballot in response to the California Supreme Court’s ruling in May 2008 that the state constitution guaranteed all citizens the fundamental right to marry, and that denial of this right to same-sex couples based solely on their sexual orientation violated the state constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. The California Constitution prescribes two separate mechanisms by which it can be changed: amendments, which may be effected by ballot initiative, and revisions, which must first be approved by a majority of the state legislature. Immediately after Proposition 8 passed, same-sex couples, municipalities, and progressive advocacy groups filed petitions with the California Supreme Court, urging it to exercise its jurisdiction to nullify Proposition 8 on procedural grounds. Despite its brevity, they argued, Proposition 8 would effect a fundamental change to the state constitution by gutting its equal protection principle — some Californians would now be more "equal" than others. Consequently, Proposition 8 comprised a revision, not an amendment, and was invalid absent prior legislative approval. In an <i>amicus</i> brief supporting these petitioners, we argued that by purporting to create an exception to equal protection, one of the California Constitution’s bedrock principles, Proposition 8 eviscerated it. If allowed to take effect, Proposition 8 would set a dangerous precedent for the piecemeal withdrawal of fundamental rights from other disfavored minorities, including religious ones, by simple majority vote. In creating a constitutional scheme that distinguished between amendments and revisions, the People had wisely prescribed a more rigorous and deliberative procedure for accomplishing such radical changes as those that Proposition 8 would effectuate. While Proposition 8 had, barely, achieved popular support, the People’s will, as expressed in California’s founding document, mandated its nullification. The brief was filed on January 15, 2009, on behalf of Americans United and a broad coalition of civil rights groups. The California Supreme Court heard oral argument on March 5, 2009. On May 26, 2009, the Court upheld the Proposition 8 ballot initiative, but held that same-sex marriages already performed while they were legal would remain in effect.</p></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-local-court field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/local-courts/california-state-court">California State Court</a></div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-aus-role field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">AU&#039;s Role:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/au-role/amicus">Amicus</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-involvement-begin field-type-date field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">AU&#039;s Involvement Began:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 2009</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-case-status field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Status:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/court-case-status/closed">Closed</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-recent-developments field-type-text-long field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Most Recent Developments:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><span class="field field-name-field-address field-type-addressfield field-label-above" ><span class="field-label">Address:&nbsp;</span><span class="field addressfield field-item" ><span class="addressfield-citystate">CA</span></span></span>Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:11:57 +0000Americans United5614 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/our-work/legal/lawsuits/strauss-v-horton#commentsGay-Ban Repeal Won’t Affect Chaplains, Pentagon Sayshttps://au.org/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/gay-ban-repeal-won%E2%80%99t-affect-chaplains-pentagon-says
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The pending repeal of the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay service members will not change policies related to chaplains, the Pentagon has announced. </p>
<p>“There will be no changes regarding service member exercise of religious beliefs, nor are there any changes to policies concerning the chaplain corps of the military departments and their duties,” reads a six-page memo about implementing the repeal of the Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy. </p>
<p>The Jan. 28 memo notes that chaplains will continue to be required to “care for all,” and their First Amendment freedoms will remain unchanged.</p>
<p>“When chaplains are engaged in the performance of religious services, they may not be required to engage in practices contrary to their religious beliefs,” it reads. </p>
<p>In November, the military issued a comprehensive review of the planned repeal and concluded that “special attention” should be given to the chaplain corps because of sharp differences on the issue. But that report also concluded existing rules protecting chaplains’ First Amendment rights were “adequate” for the ban’s repeal. </p>
<p>Officials of some chaplains’ organizations have opposed the repeal and questioned whether chaplains who oppose homosexuality will be protected. </p>
<p>The exact effective date of the repeal remains unclear, but President Obama said in his State of the Union address it would occur this year. (RNS)</p></div></div><h3 ></h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">AU Bulletin</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-5361" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state">
The <span class="cs-month field">March</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2011</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/featured/first-amendment-feud">First Amendment Feud</a></h3>
<h4>An East Tennessee Man Tangles With Local Officials – And The ‘Ten Commandments Warriors’ – To Defend Church-State Separation</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/featured/parochial-priority">Parochial Priority</a></h3>
<h4>House Speaker Boehner, Sen. Lieberman Escalate Voucher Aid Campaign For Religious And Other Private Schools In D.C.</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/featured/prescription-for-disaster">Prescription For Disaster</a></h3>
<h4>Hospital Mergers And Heavy-Handed Tactics Are Giving The Catholic Hierarchy An Increasingly Problematic Role In American Health Care</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/featured/deweese-decalogue-display-derailed">DeWeese Decalogue Display Derailed</a></h3>
<h4>Appeals Court Rules Against Ohio Judge’s Latest Commandments Caper</h4> </div>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/evangelist-billy-graham-says-he-now-regrets">Evangelist Billy Graham Says He Now Regrets Involvement In Politics</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/virginia-lawmakers-vote-to-undermine-separation">Virginia Lawmakers Vote To Undermine Separation Of Church And State</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/despite-controversy-obama-attends-annual-prayer">Despite Controversy, Obama Attends Annual Prayer Breakfast In D.C.</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/school-voucher-bill-may-be-on-track-to-become-law">School Voucher Bill May Be On Track To Become Law In N.J. </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/gulf-between-governor-and-bishop-widens-in-rhode">Gulf Between Governor And Bishop Widens In Rhode Island</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/au%E2%80%99s-lynn-criticizes-support-for-ky-%E2%80%98ark-park%E2%80%99-on">AU’s Lynn Criticizes Support For Ky. ‘Ark Park’ On CNN Broadcast</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/obama-names-dozen-new-members-for-%E2%80%98faith-based%E2%80%99">Obama Names Dozen New Members For ‘Faith-Based’ Council</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/many-teachers-undercut-science-education-new">Many Teachers Undercut Science Education, New Survey Indicates</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/southern-baptist-official-caves-to-pressure-from">Southern Baptist Official Caves To Pressure From Anti-Islamic Co-Religionists</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/gay-ban-repeal-won%E2%80%99t-affect-chaplains-pentagon-says">Gay-Ban Repeal Won’t Affect Chaplains, Pentagon Says</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/hawaii-senate-ends-official-opening-prayers">Hawaii Senate Ends Official Opening Prayers</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/calif-city-argues-over-%E2%80%98in-god-we-trust%E2%80%99">Calif. City Argues Over ‘In God We Trust’</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/va-school-district-reposts-ten-commandments">Va. School District Reposts Ten Commandments</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/alabama-governor-apologizes-for-sectarian-remarks">Alabama Governor Apologizes For Sectarian Remarks</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/compromise-allows-sikh-daggers-in-public-school">Compromise Allows Sikh Daggers In Public School</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/states-may-ban-guns-in-churches-court-rules">States May Ban Guns In Churches, Court Rules</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/pakistani-teen-jailed-for-blasphemy">Pakistani Teen Jailed For Blasphemy</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/march-2011-church-state/editorial/weird-science-bad-jobs">Weird Science, Bad Jobs</a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div>Tue, 01 Mar 2011 05:00:00 +0000Americans United5101 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/march-2011-church-state/au-bulletin/gay-ban-repeal-won%E2%80%99t-affect-chaplains-pentagon-says#commentsHit By A Bushttps://au.org/church-state/december-2010-church-state/featured/hit-by-a-bus
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>About a week before the Nov. 2 election, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins sent an e-mail to supporters plugging a bus trip to Des Moines, Iowa.</p>
<p>Why was the Washington, D.C.-based FRC road-tripping in the Hawkeye State? </p>
<p>The message, sent under the auspices of FRC Action, laid it out: Three Iowa Supreme Court justices who had voted to strike down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2009 were facing retention elections. FRC and its Religious Right allies aimed to take them all out.</p>
<p>And they did. On Election Day, Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices Michael Streit and David Baker failed to garner 50 percent support to stay on the court.</p>
<p>The removal of the three does not affect the same-sex marriage ruling, but it will likely have the Religious Right’s intended effect: sending a message to judges in other states who face elections.</p>
<p>“What is so disturbing about this is that it really might cause judges in the future to be less willing to protect minorities out of fear that they might be voted out of office,” Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California at Irvine’s School of Law told <em>The New York Times</em>. “Something like this really does chill other judges.”</p>
<p>The FRC, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and other Religious Right groups began taking aim at the judges months ago. They poured money into the state, organized in fundamentalist churches and blitzed Iowa with a bus tour.</p>
<p>The purple bus, emblazoned with the words “Replace, Renew, Restore” and photos of the three targeted judges, made stops in 20 Iowa communities over four days in late October. FRC and NOM were so proud of the bus that they created a special Web site (judgebus.com) full of pictures and messages sent via Twitter. (You could even “like” the bus on Facebook.)</p>
<p>Some clergy jumped into the effort, heedless of the legal consequences of church-based politicking. In Sioux City, the Rev. Cary K. Gordon of Cornerstone World Outreach Church implored other preachers to attack the judges from the pulpit.</p>
<p>Americans United reported Cornerstone to the Internal Revenue Service. (See “Bully Pulpit,” November 2010 <em>Church &amp; State</em>.)</p>
<p>For years, Religious Right groups have fulminated against “activist judges” who issue rulings the far right dislikes. Their success in Iowa will undoubtedly spur them to move on to other states and threaten more judges.</p>
<p>The effect could be profound. Although federal judges are appointed by the president (with review by the Senate), many state judges are elected. A 2008 <em>New York Times</em> story cited the National Center for State Courts, which says that 87 percent of judges in the states face some type of election. The Center says 39 states elect some or all judges.</p>
<p>In Iowa, judicial candidates are nominated by a committee of lawyers and sent to the governor, who chooses to appoint them or not. </p>
<p>To further complicate matters, Iowa is undergoing political change. Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, was defeated by former governor Terry Branstad last month. Branstad courted and worked closely with Religious Right groups during his time in office in the 1990s. It’s likely they’ll demand input into the judicial replacement process.</p>
<p>During the anti-judge campaign, FRC leaders railed against out-of-state gay-rights groups that they said were attempting to influence the outcome. But the FRC isn’t based in Iowa either and featured Louis Gohmert, a member of Congress from Texas, as one of its speakers.</p>
<p>The National Organization for Marriage, which is based in Princeton, N.J., poured $600,000 into the effort. The Christian Post reported that this was the largest donation made to the campaign. </p>
<p>The <em>Des Moines Register</em> reported that the vote “triggered a battle never seen in Iowa’s judicial history. Television, radio and Internet ads portrayed the justices as both activists and referees. Robo-calls urged a ‘no’ vote. U.S. Rep. Steve King embarked on a statewide bus tour to rally ‘no’ voters.”</p>
<p>Exulting in the victory, King remarked, “It’s something that will send a resounding message all across the country, and I think that every judge in the judicial branch of every state will learn about this decision by Iowans. We’ve been a little soft on the social issues lately, and we turned the corner last night.”</p>
<p>But the effort was not a total success. Two state judges in Polk County who were also targeted for issuing rulings favorable to same-sex couples were retained by overwhelming margins.</p>
<p>While the Religious Right celebrated the defeat of the Supreme Court judges, the <em>Register</em> sounded a note of caution.</p>
<p>“Tuesday’s vote was a body blow to the principle of an independent judiciary insulated from popular sentiment,” asserted the newspaper in an editorial. “If punishing judges for unpopular decisions becomes common, the people of Iowa will be the ultimate losers. That includes those who initiated this campaign, because their rights may one day be on the line.”</p></div></div><a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><h3 >Iowa Supreme Court Judges Voted Out After Religious Right Smear&nbsp;Campaign</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-5358" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix long-label"><div class="field-label">Religious Right Organization:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/resources/religious-right/family-research-council">Family Research Council</a></span></div></div>Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0000Americans United5015 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/december-2010-church-state/featured/hit-by-a-bus#commentsBias In Black And Whitehttps://au.org/church-state/december-2010-church-state/featured/bias-in-black-and-white
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Forty years ago, Roger Mills had to fight in seven courts to win the right to marry the woman he loved.</p>
<p>Mills, who is white, wanted to marry a black woman. In most parts of the country, this would not have been a big deal in 1970. But in Mississippi, a state still resisting integration and clinging to a Jim Crow past that condemned “race mixing” as un-Christian, it absolutely was.</p>
<p>Still, Mills didn’t expect to have any problems when he walked into the local courthouse to apply for a license. Three years earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had unanimously struck down a Virginia law banning interracial marriage. Mississippi’s statute was essentially the same as Virginia’s and was surely a dead letter.</p>
<p>It wasn’t that simple. A local racist group got wind of the couple’s plans and successfully petitioned a state judge to issue an order forbidding the county clerk from granting the license.</p>
<p>Mills, who was 24 at the time, began to get worried.</p>
<p>“We had sent out all of these invitations and were not anticipating this,” Mills said. “This was going to mess up everything. We didn’t know what we were going to do.”</p>
<p>The couple turned to the courts – first state, then federal. After a whirlwind of activity spanning two weeks, a federal appeals court lifted the order on the clerk, and Mills’ union with Berta Linson became Mississippi’s first legally sanctioned interracial marriage. </p>
<p>Four decades have passed, and for Mills, history is repeating itself in an unexpected way. His daughter, Demetria, who lives in Georgia, is also fighting resistance to her plans for a lawful union – because she wants to marry another woman.</p>
<p>Demetria’s hopes for a legal marriage have angered a lot of religious conservatives. To her father, it’s a familiar situation.</p>
<p>As Mills fought for the right to marry, he stirred up a hornet’s nest. During one court proceeding, the Mississippi attorney general badgered Mills before a packed gallery of news reporters because he lived in the same apartment building (though not in the same unit) as his fiancée. Mills was accused of violating the state’s anti-miscegenation law.</p>
<p>“It was terrible,” Mills recalled. “I was put on the stand. It was humiliating in front of all of those reporters to have the attorney general examining me on this stuff.”</p>
<p>Hate mail poured in. </p>
<p>“You think what you have done is real smart,” wrote one anonymous critic. “I’m sure you did it to prove a point to the Christian White people of Mississippi, but in the end you will be the one to sorrow…. This is against the law of God and you will have to answer to Him for disobeying this very stern commandment in His word.” </p>
<p>Mills, an Americans United member – and Sunday school teacher – who now lives in Georgia, told Church &amp; State that fundamentalist religion was a big factor in the issue. </p>
<p>“We got lectures on Leviticus and the Old Testament, about how it was impermissible to have your seeds be mixed,” he recalls. “We got the curse of Cain and how blacks were marked in the Old Testament and what I was doing was a shame to my race. We got all of that.”</p>
<p>Forty years later, daughter Demetria can relate. Her parents divorced after 18 years of marriage, but she sees personal parallels to the fundamentalist opposition that occurred when they were first wed. The Georgia resident has heard any number of pastors cite their interpretation of the Bible when blasting same-sex unions.</p>
<p>“I thought all of these things would be righted eventually, yet I encounter the same opposition, and it’s all based on religious beliefs that are linked to the power of government,” she said. </p>
<p>Ironically, developments in another state may determine the fate of Demetria’s union with her partner. A battle over same-sex marriage in California is working its way up the federal court system, and some legal observers believe it may even reach the U.S. Supreme Court. If the justices eventually strike down Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage, it could clear the way for same-sex couples nationwide to legally marry.</p>
<p>The Golden State legal tussle has many parallels to the struggle to end bans on interracial marriage. Back then, some ministers and government officials fulminated against “race mixing” and argued that God did not favor such unions.</p>
<p>In Virginia, a trial judge named Leon M. Bazile wrote that the state had no obligation to recognize an interracial couple’s marriage that had been performed in Washington, D.C., penning a passage that has since become infamous: “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.”</p>
<p>Bazile’s overt racism and bizarre theology grate on today’s ears. Yet religiously grounded arguments against same-sex marriage are still heard. In fact, at times the debate sounds less like a legal and public policy discussion than it does a medieval dispute over the fine points of theology.</p>
<p>Americans United says that fact makes California’s ban on same-sex marriage suspect. The ban, AU argues in a recent friend-of-the-court brief, is based on intolerance, pseudo-science and religious dogma, not legitimate public policy concerns.</p>
<p>The brief, filed Oct. 25 with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asserts that opposition to marriage equality for gay couples reflects the same baseless and inappropriate considerations that once were used to deny marriage rights to slaves and interracial couples. </p>
<p>AU’s interest in the issue escalated sharply in 2008, when Proposition 8 passed narrowly and took away the right of same-sex couples to marry. The debate leading up to the vote was often wrapped in religious rhetoric. In fact, the drive to enact the measure was funded and staffed primarily by fundamentalist Protestant churches, the Roman Catholic hierarchy and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons).</p>
<p>After Proposition 8 passed, media reports surfaced that the Mormons had poured some $22 million into the campaign – even though church members account for less than 2 percent of California residents.</p>
<p>Many Californians were unsettled to learn that a church based in Utah had spent so much money to make California law conform to its dogma. When a federal court challenge was mounted, church-state concerns took center stage.</p>
<p>In August, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution. The state constitutional amendment, Walker held, imposed a private moral viewpoint and did not advance a legitimate state interest. </p>
<p>“Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians,” Walker wrote in <em>Perry v. Schwarzenegger</em>. “The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples.”</p>
<p>The case was appealed and is now pending before the 9th Circuit Court.</p>
<p>Groups that defend church-state separation and civil liberties are speaking out. They are making the point that U.S. law cannot be based on one interpretation of the Bible. </p>
<p>“American law,” observed Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “should be based on equality and fairness, not the doctrines of aggressive religious groups. Proposition 8 is grounded in intolerance and sectarian dogma, and the appeals court should reject it.”</p>
<p>The AU brief, filed jointly with the Howard University School of Law Civil Rights Clinic, takes a historical perspective, pointing out that in the past, government authorities used marriage and access to it as a form of social control. In the pre-Civil War South, for example, laws banning marriage between slaves were common.</p>
<p>The brief notes that opponents of marriage rights for slaves and interracial couples argued that such unions were a threat to the social order and the institutions of marriage and family. They also claimed that such marriages violated their interpretation of the Bible. </p>
<p>“Even though reliance on religious doctrine as the basis for public policy is as improper today as it was in the days of anti-miscegenation laws, today opponents of marriage between two persons of the same sex use (their) Biblical interpretations to suggest that homosexuality is unnatural because it is against God’s will,” observes the brief. “Indeed, like their anti-miscegenationist counterparts, opponents of marriage for same-sex couples almost always attempt to clothe their arguments in literal and selective interpretations of the Bible.”</p>
<p>It goes on to say, “Today, while there is no longer any serious claim that marriage rights should be denied on the basis of race, opponents of marriage equality have attacked same-sex couples, using precisely the same flawed arguments that once were used to justify racial slavery and apartheid. We are now long past the time when anyone would seriously claim that race-based marriage equality threatens the moral fabric of our civilization, is contrary to nature, or is harmful to children. </p>
<p>“Therefore,” the brief concludes, “the onus should be on opponents of marriage equality to demonstrate how arguments that time and experience have so thoroughly rejected in the context of race should now be dug up, dusted off, and given any consideration, much less credibility, in the context of marriage for same-sex couples.”</p>
<p>In addition to AU and the Howard Civil Rights Clinic, six professors at Howard University School of Law and four law-student organizations also expressed support for the brief.</p>
<p>The brief was written by Aderson B. François, civil rights clinic supervising attorney at Howard University School of Law, in cooperation with Americans United Legal Director Ayesha N. Khan and attorneys with the firms of Manatt, Phelps &amp; Phillips LLP and Keker &amp; Van Nest LLP.</p>
<p>A separate brief filed by California Faith for Equality, the California Council of Churches and a number of other religious groups specifically attacks the idea that religious views should dominate public policy.</p>
<p>“Proposition 8’s advocates…often have insisted that their ballot measure was warranted because marriage is of divine origin – instituted by God,” reads the brief. “But California’s civil law should be blind to sectarian doctrines on divine law. Even nonbelievers have a right to marry.”</p>
<p>Elsewhere the brief observes, “Recognizing same-sex couples’ legal right to marry threatens the religious liberty of those who reject such marriages no more than recognizing the legal right of mixed-race couples… impaired the religious liberty of those who might reject interracial unions as contrary to God’s law.”</p>
<p>Samuel M. Chu, executive director of California Faith for Equality, said the organization’s brief is important because it debunks claims that all religious groups oppose civil marriages for same-sex couples.</p>
<p>“I believe it is important to let the court know that people of faith have different views on same-sex marriage, and to remind the judges that we live in a pluralistic society where you don’t impose sectarian religious doctrines by law to limit the freedom of people who don’t share those beliefs,” Chu told <em>Church &amp; State</em>. </p>
<p>His organization’s brief, Chu said, shows that “religious institutions are free to define religious rites of marriage as they choose, but that none is entitled to limit secular civil marriages according to religious doctrines, let alone to invalidate the marriages blessed by other faith traditions.”</p>
<p>It could take several years for the Proposition 8 case to wind its way through the courts. In the meantime, other factors are at work that will likely affect the issue of same-sex marriage.</p>
<p>Most scholars agree that a gradual social evolution is under way concerning the issue of gay rights. Solid majorities now favor gays serving openly in the military, support hospital visitation rights for same-sex partners and back other forms of gay rights.</p>
<p>A few recent polls have even shown a thin majority backing the legalization of same-sex marriage – the first time that position has topped 50 percent. In addition, polls show that younger Americans are much more supportive of the idea.</p>
<p>But the Religious Right does not intend to go down without a fight – and the issue is still a potent one for them in many parts of the country. Last month, three Iowa Supreme Court justices who had voted in favor of same-sex marriage lost their seats in a retention election after being targeted by Religious Right organizations. </p>
<p>For Demetria Mills, who has been with her partner for 18 years, the inability to legally sanction that union is frustrating. She points out that the same Religious Right activists who fulminate against same-sex marriage often turn a blind eye to trends in modern society that actually do endanger families.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure how my being married to my partner could possibly affect the heterosexual couple next door,” she said. “It’s irrational.”</p></div></div><a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><h3 >California’s Religion-Based Ban On Same-Sex Marriage Parallels Historic Battle Over Interracial Unions, Say Legal&nbsp;Experts</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-5358" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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</div></div></div>Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0000Americans United5014 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/december-2010-church-state/featured/bias-in-black-and-white#commentsProposition 8 Ban On Same-Sex Marriage Has No Legitimate Basis, AU Tells Appeals Courthttps://au.org/media/press-releases/proposition-8-ban-on-same-sex-marriage-has-no-legitimate-basis-au-tells-appeals
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>California’s ban on civil marriage for same-sex couples is based on intolerance, pseudo-science and religious dogma, not legitimate public policy concerns, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has told a federal appeals court.</p>
<p>In a <a href="/preview!www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2010/10/prop-8-amicus-brief-10-25-10.pdf">friend-of-the court brief</a>, Americans United advised the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that opposition to marriage equality for gay couples reflects the same baseless and inappropriate considerations that once were used to deny marriage rights to slaves and interracial couples. </p>
<p>The brief was filed in <em>Perry v. Schwarzenegger</em>, a closely watched lawsuit that challenges Proposition 8, a California referendum that revoked the right of same-sex couples to obtain civil marriages. The drive to enact the measure was funded and staffed primarily by fundamentalist Protestant churches, the Roman Catholic hierarchy and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons).</p>
<p>Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “American law should be based on equality and fairness, not the doctrines of aggressive religious groups. Proposition 8 is grounded in intolerance and sectarian dogma, and the appeals court should reject it.”</p>
<p>The brief, filed jointly Oct. 25 with the Howard University School of Law Civil Rights Clinic, notes that historically opponents of marriage rights for slaves and interracial couples argued that such unions were a threat to the social order and the institutions of marriage and family. They also claimed that such marriages violated their interpretation of the Bible. </p>
<p>Observes the brief, “Even though reliance on religious doctrine as the basis for public policy is as improper today as it was in the days of anti-miscegenation laws, today opponents of marriage between two persons of the same sex use (their) Biblical interpretations to suggest that homosexuality is unnatural because it is against God’s will. Indeed, like their anti-miscegenationist counterparts, opponents of marriage for same-sex couples almost always attempt to clothe their arguments in literal and selective interpretations of the Bible.”</p>
<p>Asserts the brief, “Today, while there is no longer any serious claim that marriage rights should be denied on the basis of race, opponents of marriage equality have attacked same-sex couples, using precisely the same flawed arguments that once were used to justify racial slavery and apartheid. We are now long past the time when anyone would seriously claim that race-based marriage equality threatens the moral fabric of our civilization, is contrary to nature, or is harmful to children. </p>
<p>“Therefore,” the brief concludes, “the onus should be on opponents of marriage equality to demonstrate how arguments that time and experience have so thoroughly rejected in the context of race should now be dug up, dusted off, and given any consideration, much less credibility, in the context of marriage for same-sex couples.”</p>
<p>In addition to AU and the Howard Civil Rights Clinic, six professors at Howard University School of Law and four law student organizations also expressed support for the brief.</p>
<p>The brief was written by Aderson B. François, Civil Rights Clinic Supervising Attorney at Howard University School of Law, in cooperation with Americans United Legal Director Ayesha N. Khan and attorneys with the firms of Manatt, Phelps &amp; Phillips LLP and Keker &amp; Van Nest LLP.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span></div></div><h3 >Like Historic Opposition To Interracial Marriage, California Measure Is Based On Intolerance, Psuedo-Science And Religious Dogma, Says AU&nbsp;Brief</h3>Tue, 26 Oct 2010 04:00:00 +0000Americans United971 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/media/press-releases/proposition-8-ban-on-same-sex-marriage-has-no-legitimate-basis-au-tells-appeals#commentsProposition 8 Decision Respects Religious Liberty, Says AU’s Barry Lynnhttps://au.org/church-state/september-2010-church-state/people-events/proposition-8-decision-respects-religious
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>A federal court decision striking down California’s Proposition 8 reflected sound religious liberty principles, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the state constitutional amendment, passed narrowly by voters in 2008, imposes a private moral viewpoint without a legitimate governmental interest and tramples on the equal rights of gay and lesbian couples.</p>
<p>“The state does not have an interest in enforcing private moral or religious beliefs without an accompanying secular purpose,” wrote Walker, who was named to the court by President Ronald W. Reagan and confirmed under President George H.W. Bush. </p>
<p>The legal challenge was the handiwork of an unlikely legal duo: Conservative Ted Olson and liberal David Boies, both of whom have argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, joined forces to represent same-sex couples in California. </p>
<p>The Aug. 4 decision was a setback for Religious Right groups, which lobbied heavily to pass the constitutional amendment, known as Proposition 8. The referendum was dominated by lavishly funded political front groups representing the Roman Catholic bishops, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) and fundamentalist Protestant churches. </p>
<p>Reports indicated that the Mormons spent $20 million on the effort, even though Mormons account for less than 2 percent of California’s population.</p>
<p>In court, Religious Right legal groups, including the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), defended Proposition 8 after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown refused to do so. </p>
<p>Americans United hailed the ruling.</p>
<p>“This is a tremendous step forward for individual freedom and church-state separation,” said Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn. “Aggressive and well-funded religious groups conspired to take away the civil marriage rights of same-sex couples in California. That was wrong, and I am delighted that the court has ruled the way it has.”</p>
<p>Added Lynn, “A growing number of American denominations and faith groups perform same-sex marriages. Why should the state refuse to recognize those ceremonies while approving of ceremonies by other clergy? A decent respect for church-state separation means the government should not play favorites when it comes to religion.”</p>
<p>In his <em>Perry v. Schwarzenegger</em> ruling, Walker noted that allowing same-sex marriage does not lessen anyone’s religious liberty rights.</p>
<p>Observed Walker, “[A]ffording same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the designation of marriage will not impinge upon the religious freedom of any religious organization, official, or any other person; no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs. </p>
<p>“Marriage in the United States has always been a civil matter,” Walker continued. “Civil authorities may permit religious leaders to solemnize marriages but not to determine who may enter or leave a civil marriage. Religious leaders may determine independently whether to recognize a civil marriage or divorce but that recognition or lack thereof has no effect on the relationship under state law.”</p>
<p>Religious Right groups were furious over the ruling. The ADF issued a statement vowing to appeal.</p></div></div><h3 ></h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">People &amp; Events</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/discrimination-refusals-exemptions-free-exercise">Discrimination, Religious Refusals, Exemptions &amp; Free Exercise</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-5355" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/september-2010-church-state/au-bulletin/missouri-senate-derails-anti-separation">Missouri Senate Derails Anti-Separation Amendment</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/september-2010-church-state/au-bulletin/house-immigration-hearing-turns-into-bible">House Immigration Hearing Turns Into Bible Battle</a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix long-label"><div class="field-label">Religious Right Organization:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/resources/religious-right/alliance-defending-freedom">Alliance Defending Freedom</a></span></div></div>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0000Americans United4954 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/september-2010-church-state/people-events/proposition-8-decision-respects-religious#commentsUnreality Showhttps://au.org/church-state/september-2010-church-state/featured/unreality-show
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The story told about colonial-era Lutheran pastor Peter Muhlenberg is certainly dramatic.</p>
<p>Addressing his Virginia congregation on Jan. 21, 1776, Muhlenberg stunned the congregation by announcing that this sermon would be his last. At the end of the address, he threw back his clerical robe to expose a military uniform and announced he was off to fight for American independence. Moved by his oratory, 300 men signed up on the spot to join him.</p>
<p>The story has made the rounds on Religious Right Web sites for years. It’s cited as evidence of the influence of Christianity on America’s founding and even as a prop for the idea that churches should always be active in politics.</p>
<p>David Barton, a Texas-based Religious Right activist and self-styled historian, recently cited the Muhlenberg tale as evidence that Christian pastors were involved in “every aspect” of the founding.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Barton and his allies, the story is almost certainly untrue. No contemporary accounts of it exist. The tale first appeared in 1849 – long after Muhlenberg’s death – during a time when an influx of immigrants from Germany was eager to prove its loyalty by holding up a hero with genuine revolutionary credibility.</p>
<p>Most likely, the tale is a “pious legend” designed to inflate the importance of a historical figure by underscoring his essential goodness. It’s akin to stories of the young George Washington refusing to tell a lie about that cherry tree.</p>
<p>In 2007, PBS’ popular “History Detectives” investigated the Muhlenberg story. The program quoted Friederike Baer, an expert on German-American history, who called it “an invention.”</p>
<p>Chalk up another myth for David Barton.</p>
<p>It’s not surprising that Barton would tell a story that turned out not to be true. He’s been doing that for years. What is unusual is the venue where he told it: on a video being circulated by Fox News Channel’s controversial host Glenn Beck as part of an endeavor called “Beck University.”</p>
<p>The purpose of the “university” – which exists only in cyberspace – is ostensibly to teach Americans about the true “Christian” roots of the country. Based on the first lesson, Beck and Barton are off to a stumbling start.</p>
<p>On Beck’s Web site, Barton is referred to as “Prof. David Barton.” But Barton, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Christian Education from Oral Roberts University, holds no advanced degrees and does not teach at any legitimate institution. While he’s not an actual historian, Barton has posed as one since the early 1990s. He’s a fixture at Religious Right meetings and often delivers his cut-and-paste “Christian nation” history to far-right religious groups nationwide.</p>
<p>Despite his lack of credentials, Barton played a pivotal role in the recent rewriting of social studies standards in Texas. Fundamentalists on the state board of education appointed him to an advisory committee to examine state standards. Several of Barton’s recommendations found their way into the final version. (See “Texas Tall Tale,” July-August 2009 <em>Church &amp; State</em>.)</p>
<p>Now Barton’s profile is becoming even more prominent. His partnership with Beck, whose viewership reaches 1.5 million nightly, could move Barton from the precincts of the Religious Right, where he has dwelled for many years, right into America’s living rooms.</p>
<p>Since March, Barton has appeared on Beck’s program at least 15 times. In fact, Beck has taken to featuring Barton in regular Friday appearances, what Beck calls “Founders’ Fridays.” </p>
<p>The two make for an unlikely tag team. Barton, a fundamentalist Christian, has long hawked his “Christian nation” goods to eager right-wing fundamentalists. Beck, a Mormon whose religion is often attacked by fundamentalists, admits to being as much an entertainer as a political commentator.</p>
<p>But working together, they might just re-energize the Religious Right. That movement, dispirited over the presidency of Barack Obama, is somewhat rudderless at the moment with few acknowledged high-profile leaders. It is, however, hoping for a big comeback after the fall elections. The question of who will take charge of the movement remains unclear.</p>
<p>While neither Beck nor Barton is a likely leader for the theocratic right – the gangly, silver-haired Texan talks at a fast clip and has little charisma and Beck’s Mormonism is too high a barrier – they could provide important cheerleading and valuable media exposure to the movement’s newly emerging leaders. Although bombastic, Beck’s overwrought nightly performances definitely resonate with disaffected Fox News viewers, Christian nationalists and Tea Party activists – the very crowd the Religious Right seeks to mobilize. </p>
<p>The two bring different skills to the partnership.</p>
<p>Beck has parlayed his cable-news celebrity into a growing financial empire. Over the summer, he made a round of personal appearances at right-wing conferences and published a paranoid, didactic novel called <em>The Overton Window</em> that topped the bestsellers’ lists. </p>
<p>Beck University is part of the host’s expanding realm. Fans who want access to Barton’s pearls of wisdom must sign up through Beck’s Web site and plunk down fees ranging from $6.26 to $9.95 per month for “insider extreme” access. For the money, viewers are promised not only Beck University videos but also “exclusive video you can’t get anywhere else” and “the ultimate in Glenn Beck access.”</p>
<p>On the air, Beck comes across as a more sedate version of Howard Beale from the 1976 film “Network” mixed with occasional forays into TV evangelism. </p>
<p>“[P]ray, find your relationship with God,” Beck implored his audience July 19. “Pray on your knees every night. Make this commitment. Pray on your knees every night for the next 40 nights…. I believe it’s impossible to restore America without restoring God in our country. Turn to him. Re-establish your relationship with him.”</p>
<p>Although less of a showman, Barton has traveled a similar path of hucksterism. His Aledo, Texas-based outfit, WallBuilders, has a non-profit division but makes most of its money through a for-profit operation that peddles books, DVDs and other materials promoting the Texan’s revisionist history. </p>
<p>Barton’s primary product is a fat book titled <em>Original Intent</em>. Called <em>The Myth of Separation</em> when it first appeared, <em>Original Intent</em> is popular with followers of the Religious Right because it tells them what they want to hear: that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that church-state separation was never intended by the founders. </p>
<p>The constitutional division between church and state, Barton argues, was imposed on an unwilling nation by the Supreme Court in 1947.</p>
<p>Barton’s “history” is studded with errors. <em>The Myth of Separation</em> contained so many mistakes that Barton withdrew the book and re-titled it <em>Original Intent</em>. </p>
<p>Barton is also less eager to talk today about his first book, <em>America: To Pray or Not To Pray?</em> It’s an embarrassing collection of charts that Barton uses to “prove” that the 1962 Supreme Court decision striking down school-sponsored prayer led to an increase in crime, higher rates of venereal disease, more alcoholism and so on. The self-published tome is no longer featured on the WallBuilders site – although Beck mentioned Barton’s charts on the air July 1. </p>
<p>But none of this has slowed Barton down. If anything, his celebrity in the Religious Right has only increased. These days, his site proudly proclaims, “As Seen on Glenn Beck.” <em>Original Intent</em> is selling briskly on Amazon.com. This summer, he appeared with Beck at a series of rallies dubbed the “American Revival Tour,” a national campaign slated to culminate with Beck, Barton and Sarah Palin joining forces at an Aug. 28 “Restoring Honor” event at the Lincoln Memorial. </p>
<p>Despite his newfound fame, Barton’s research is as sloppy as ever.</p>
<p>Researcher Chris Rodda of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has posted several video clips and articles online debunking the claims Barton has been making on Beck’s shows. Rodda, author of the book <em>Liars for Jesus</em>, says Barton often doesn’t tell the whole story.</p>
<p>In her blog postings, Rodda cites two claims Barton made on Beck’s show on March 16. Barton asserted that Congress printed an official Bible for use in schools after the Revolution in 1782 and that Thomas Jefferson added the phrase “in the Year of our Lord Christ” to official documents.</p>
<p>Both stories stretch credulity. The United States was in poor shape financially after the war, and it seems unlikely scarce funds would have been spent on printing Bibles. And to anyone familiar with Jefferson’s much-discussed religious skepticism – this is the man, after all, who rewrote the New Testament to remove all references to Jesus’ divinity and miracles – the claim about him adding Jesus’ name to government documents is jarring. </p>
<p>The real facts are much more mundane. The Jefferson documents Barton refers to were pre-printed papers carried on board ships to prove their country of origin. Under terms of an international treaty that had been signed by President John Adams, the United States agreed to use a standardized version of language drawn up by Dutch officials that included the religious reference. (Holland at that time was an officially Christian nation.) </p>
<p>The fledgling United States was in no position to quibble over a minor detail of wording, and the form remained in use until the 1820s. The language, however, was in no way Jefferson’s doing. </p>
<p>Barton’s assertion about the congressional Bible is equally specious. </p>
<p>The claim is suspicious from the start. There simply weren’t any public schools as we know them in 1782. Rodda explains what really happened: A man named Robert Aiken produced a version of the Bible and tried repeatedly, without success, to get the U.S. government to print and distribute it. </p>
<p>In the end, Congress agreed to ask some chaplains to examine the Bible. The chaplains liked the edition, so Congress issued a resolution lauding the work as accurate – probably because they were interested in giving a boost to the new U.S. publishing industry.</p>
<p>Aiken tried repeatedly to persuade the federal government to print his Bible, even appealing to George Washington. Nothing came of it. In fact, he was unable to sell most of the 10,000 Bibles he had privately printed and lost money on the deal. </p>
<p>Barton also claimed on a Beck University video that 29 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence had attended seminaries and were ministers. In fact, as Rodda points out, only two signers of that document became ministers. During the colonial period, “seminary” was used to mean “college.”</p>
<p>In a way, Barton’s appearances on Beck’s program make perfect sense. Misinformation is right at home there, and the show isn’t exactly a font of accuracy. Beck and his guests often spread wild tales.</p>
<p>On July 1, Barton appeared on the program arguing in favor of having a religious basis to government. During the show, Beck attacked churches that propagate “social justice” (a frequent obsession of Beck’s) and asserted that Charles Coughlin, a notorious anti-Semitic priest who did radio broadcasts in the 1930s, was a leftist. In fact, Coughlin became a vociferous opponent of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and was a Nazi sympathizer. His crude ultra-nationalism had clear fascist tendencies.</p>
<p>Appearing on the same program was Robert George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University and a favorite of the right wing. George opined that the Nazis were socialists, even though scholars of the era recognize that Nazi ideology was totalitarian/fascist with an economic policy generally favorably to big business; in addition, the Nazi obsession with racial hierarchies ran counter to the utopian socialist dreams of a classless society that were common during that era. </p>
<p>(The July 1 program featured a veritable cavalcade of Religious Right zealots. Jim Garlow, a pastor who chairs Gingrich’s Renewing American Leadership group, was on hand alongside disgraced former Christian Coalition wunderkind Ralph Reed and even Pastor John Hagee, who remains as convinced as ever that the world is about to end any day now.)</p>
<p>What’s the harm in the Beck-Barton bogus history onslaught? Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which has been monitoring Barton since the early 1990s, says the Religious Right activist has several goals. One is to destroy public respect for church-state separation. Barton hopes to persuade people that separation of church and state is something foreign to the founders. If he’s successful, people will be more supportive of Religious Right candidates for office and more outraged when church-state separation is upheld by the courts and other arms of government.</p>
<p>“The bogus, self-appointed ‘historians’ of the Religious Right have one objective: to turn the American people against church-state separation,” said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “They’re twisting history into knots, and we can’t let them get away with it.” </p>
<p>The Rev. J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, said Barton’s patchwork history has appeal among certain conservative Christians who believe American society is adrift.</p>
<p>The threat of the Barton-Beck approach, Walker said, is that it creates the impression that fundamentalist Christianity once had some type of special status with the government and deserves that again. The clear implication is that other types of believers or non-believers are second-class citizens.</p>
<p>“It is dangerous because it impugns religious liberty for Christians as well as non-Christians,” Walker said. “If anyone’s religious liberty is denied, everyone’s is threatened.”</p></div></div><a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><h3 >Bombastic TV Host Glenn Beck And Religious Right ‘Professor’ David Barton Team Up To Rewrite American&nbsp;History</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/official-prayer-religious-displays-ceremonial-religion">Official Prayer, Religious Displays &amp; Ceremonial Religion</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religion-public-schools-and-universities">Religion in Public Schools and Universities</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-5355" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix long-label"><div class="field-label">Religious Right People:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/resources/religious-right/david-barton">David Barton</a></span></div></div>Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0000Americans United4942 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/september-2010-church-state/featured/unreality-show#commentsAU Applauds Court Ruling Against Proposition 8https://au.org/media/press-releases/au-applauds-court-ruling-against-proposition-8
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Americans United for Separation of Church and State today applauded a federal district court decision striking down California’s Proposition 8, a measure that withdrew the civil marriage rights of same-sex couples in the state.</p>
<p>Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker <a href="/preview!www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2010/08/prop-8-decision.pdf">ruled</a> that the state constitutional amendment imposes a private moral viewpoint without a legitimate governmental interest and tramples on the equal rights of gay and lesbian couples.</p>
<p>Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, “This is a tremendous step forward for individual freedom and church-state separation. Aggressive and well-funded religious groups conspired to take away the civil marriage rights of same-sex couples in California. That was wrong, and I am delighted that the court has ruled the way it has.”</p>
<p>In a November 2008 referendum, voters narrowly approved Proposition 8, a ballot measure that removed the right of same-sex couples to obtain civil marriages. The referendum was dominated by lavishly funded political front groups representing the Roman Catholic bishops, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) and fundamentalist Protestant churches.</p>
<p>Lynn said powerful religious interest groups should never have been allowed to change civil marriage laws to reflect their doctrinal teachings.</p>
<p>Said Lynn, “A growing number of American denominations and faith groups perform same-sex marriages. Why should the state refuse to recognize those ceremonies while approving of ceremonies by other clergy? A decent respect for church-state separation means the government should not play favorites when it comes to religion.”</p>
<p>Today’s ruling in <em>Perry v. Schwarzenegger</em> is certain to be taken to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and many expect the case to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage-reproductive-justice-other-privacy-issues">Marriage, Reproductive Justice &amp; Other Privacy Issues</a></span></div></div><h3 >Minority Civil Rights Should Never Be Taken Away By Referendum, Watchdog Group&nbsp;Says</h3>Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000Americans United952 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/media/press-releases/au-applauds-court-ruling-against-proposition-8#comments